I just read about the Munich Massacre of 11 Isreali athletes, who were
in Germany for the 1972 Summer Olympics event, by Palestinian
Terrorists. The event, though, having occurred over 40years ago moved me
deeply, almost to tears. Especially the senseless brutality of it and
it's aftermath on the families of victims (a cousin of one of the slain
was so heart broken and died from heart attack during the mourning
service held a few days later)
It got me thinking. Why? There has to be a judgment for all man's inhumanity to man from the dawn of man's existence. A day to duly pay for wickedness, especially those meted on the innocent.
Incidentally most perpetrators of heinous crimes like Josef Mengele, the German doctor who experimented with human Jewish prisoners (kids inclusive) in concerntration camps during World War 2; Idi Amin of Uganda and his bellicose, tyrannical, childish and intolerant regime, and a few others who died of natural causes without paying for their 'debts' in the way, manner and place we would have love them to.
Think about the four innocent undergraduates, brutally murdered by a misinformed and outraged mob at Aluu community; thinking them thieves. A few people were caught, remanded and are undergoing trial currently but are they a full representation of all those guilty of that monumental Aluu tragedy? In such a mob, isn't it possible some of the guilty escaped notice who will eventually live out their time here and die naturally? Isn't it possible that when execution follows conviction in this court case that someone among the damned convicts could be an innocent fellow who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time? The punishment, when pronounced, will it equal the injustice meted to the four young men or undo the trauma to the families, loved ones and all connected to these four?
History will always be recorded flawed and colored; someone might be viewed as bad or good, weak or kind, strong willed or obstinate, purposeful or dictatorial-depending on whose book you read or views you hear about them. Besides, all the facts will never be known. Kwame Nkrumah is mostly remember or spoken of in good light only, and yes he was good, but I read for myself and did find out about his authoritarian tendencies almost bordering slightly on dictatorship. Same could be said of Ariel Sharon one time Isreali Prime Minister, and even certain early terrorist actions of, the greatly revered and beloved, Nelson Mandela with the ANC while fighting a good course against apartheid. This can be observed as true for almost any other pivotal public figure. Does the end really justify the means? If yes, then shouldn't we be apologizing to toughmen as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara; men averagely viewed in bad light, who had good intentions and many times used brute means? Ask Idi Amin's or Muammar Gaddafi's wives and children about the field marshall and Colonel respectively, you will be given the biography of nationalist saints!
Where do we draw the line of justice? Justice on this side of things has and will always be flawed to one degree or another. This assertion is underpinned by two realities: absolute knowledge of matters, circumstances and events is not possessed by men to accurately judge. Secondly, human societies lack the morale, facilities and wisdom to execute fitting judgments that will even up the physical, psychological and emotional damages that true justice would require in many cases. Someone aptly captures this fear of misjudgment thus: "it's better to free ten guilty men than to kill [unwittingly] one innocent man"
Justice that is not perfect and entire is not justice in reality. For justice to be perfect it must level up factors distorted by the evil done: flesh for flesh, pain for pain, trauma for trauma, loss for loss. Evenness. When a murderer is convicted and executed, it helps the victim's family to put closure to the matter but doesn't even all the chain consequences of the crime. Perfect justice must not punish below or above the equivalent of the injustice for then, it too, would be injustice. But how do we quantify and evaluate psychological, emotional and other forms of intangible damage so as to mete out equal punishment? That may not be adopted as a relevant question today or next century; human problems are far bigger than considering trivial issues of 'Perfecting Justice', what we have as a system of law presently will suffice.
I'm thinking, wouldn't it be satisfying to have one day set aside, where all oppressors and those who dealt despicably with fellow man will stand on one side before a great, impartial, all knowing and all powerful judge to answer for their senseless violence? And all victims on the other side; succoured, comforted and compensated? Oh what a day that would be! To watch every scoundrel, every dictator and remorseless terrorist, all through human history beginning with Cain, acknowledge first and then pay for their wrongs with commensurate repercussions; lightning, thunder, hail and brimstone! The hurting heart of a loved one of a victim of an injustice could burst in eager anticipation of such a day. A day when perfect justice will divide all of humanity into two; the 'to-be-punished' and the 'to-be-compensated.' Sadly though, life is not a fairy tale and God is not Santa Clause-It's almost frustrating because, I believe, that that day will never come.
The world can never be finely divided into two parts of good and bad because many 'bad people' are actually good people with slightly overwhelming bad deeds that history magnifies. Then many 'good people' are actually bad people whose good deeds were also slightly aggrandized and history amplifies it in rememberance for us. Many victims were in one way or the other, and probably to negligible, casual degrees, also 'oppressors' of others and many oppressors were once victims. He without any sin should cry first for justice. Thus, there will be dual presentation of almost everyone on both sides of judgment.
That judgment based on good and bad, merits and demerits will never be. Humanity will be divided into two, yes, but it will be by the gracious line of the blood of Jesus into saved and unsaved. Both sides having people with good and bad records among men! How else shall humanity pass before a perfect God who has just grades in marking- A, a perfect 100% or F, a perfect 0%; nothing in-between! The blood of Christ is that legal panacea that cures all the flaws of human injustice. The vilest offender is pardoned because someone has borne the punishment. And the good man whose goodness will never be adequate is justified and made righteous.
Great white throne judgment- the last judgment, as foretold in Revelation 20, may not be the day for God to pass judgement on the numerous pogrom and genocide perpetrators of all age and place under heaven. We know the masterminds, generals and leaders but not the many faceless yet equally guilty foot soldiers who actually carried out these crimes. Many of whom might be INACCESSIBLE to damnation if they received the free gift of God's salvation as given in Christ that absolves a man of all guilt.
The flip side, is horrifically true; an individual plunged into eternity by great injustice, a victim of unwarranted brutality, such as witnessed at the Aluu 4 incident, deserving of compensation in the after life will instead suffer eternal punishment if they never accepted God's salvation! How heartbreaking yet true.
The news is good anyhow because salvation is given free through Christ.
So when we look into eternity, we look with hope not despair, we look to the perfect justice of the all-wise Creator. We do not look forward to flawed justice patterned after the system of other guilty men punishing guilty men because that day will never come!
Dave Nwajiuba
August 20, 2013
Port Harcourt.
It got me thinking. Why? There has to be a judgment for all man's inhumanity to man from the dawn of man's existence. A day to duly pay for wickedness, especially those meted on the innocent.
Incidentally most perpetrators of heinous crimes like Josef Mengele, the German doctor who experimented with human Jewish prisoners (kids inclusive) in concerntration camps during World War 2; Idi Amin of Uganda and his bellicose, tyrannical, childish and intolerant regime, and a few others who died of natural causes without paying for their 'debts' in the way, manner and place we would have love them to.
Think about the four innocent undergraduates, brutally murdered by a misinformed and outraged mob at Aluu community; thinking them thieves. A few people were caught, remanded and are undergoing trial currently but are they a full representation of all those guilty of that monumental Aluu tragedy? In such a mob, isn't it possible some of the guilty escaped notice who will eventually live out their time here and die naturally? Isn't it possible that when execution follows conviction in this court case that someone among the damned convicts could be an innocent fellow who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time? The punishment, when pronounced, will it equal the injustice meted to the four young men or undo the trauma to the families, loved ones and all connected to these four?
History will always be recorded flawed and colored; someone might be viewed as bad or good, weak or kind, strong willed or obstinate, purposeful or dictatorial-depending on whose book you read or views you hear about them. Besides, all the facts will never be known. Kwame Nkrumah is mostly remember or spoken of in good light only, and yes he was good, but I read for myself and did find out about his authoritarian tendencies almost bordering slightly on dictatorship. Same could be said of Ariel Sharon one time Isreali Prime Minister, and even certain early terrorist actions of, the greatly revered and beloved, Nelson Mandela with the ANC while fighting a good course against apartheid. This can be observed as true for almost any other pivotal public figure. Does the end really justify the means? If yes, then shouldn't we be apologizing to toughmen as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara; men averagely viewed in bad light, who had good intentions and many times used brute means? Ask Idi Amin's or Muammar Gaddafi's wives and children about the field marshall and Colonel respectively, you will be given the biography of nationalist saints!
Where do we draw the line of justice? Justice on this side of things has and will always be flawed to one degree or another. This assertion is underpinned by two realities: absolute knowledge of matters, circumstances and events is not possessed by men to accurately judge. Secondly, human societies lack the morale, facilities and wisdom to execute fitting judgments that will even up the physical, psychological and emotional damages that true justice would require in many cases. Someone aptly captures this fear of misjudgment thus: "it's better to free ten guilty men than to kill [unwittingly] one innocent man"
Justice that is not perfect and entire is not justice in reality. For justice to be perfect it must level up factors distorted by the evil done: flesh for flesh, pain for pain, trauma for trauma, loss for loss. Evenness. When a murderer is convicted and executed, it helps the victim's family to put closure to the matter but doesn't even all the chain consequences of the crime. Perfect justice must not punish below or above the equivalent of the injustice for then, it too, would be injustice. But how do we quantify and evaluate psychological, emotional and other forms of intangible damage so as to mete out equal punishment? That may not be adopted as a relevant question today or next century; human problems are far bigger than considering trivial issues of 'Perfecting Justice', what we have as a system of law presently will suffice.
I'm thinking, wouldn't it be satisfying to have one day set aside, where all oppressors and those who dealt despicably with fellow man will stand on one side before a great, impartial, all knowing and all powerful judge to answer for their senseless violence? And all victims on the other side; succoured, comforted and compensated? Oh what a day that would be! To watch every scoundrel, every dictator and remorseless terrorist, all through human history beginning with Cain, acknowledge first and then pay for their wrongs with commensurate repercussions; lightning, thunder, hail and brimstone! The hurting heart of a loved one of a victim of an injustice could burst in eager anticipation of such a day. A day when perfect justice will divide all of humanity into two; the 'to-be-punished' and the 'to-be-compensated.' Sadly though, life is not a fairy tale and God is not Santa Clause-It's almost frustrating because, I believe, that that day will never come.
The world can never be finely divided into two parts of good and bad because many 'bad people' are actually good people with slightly overwhelming bad deeds that history magnifies. Then many 'good people' are actually bad people whose good deeds were also slightly aggrandized and history amplifies it in rememberance for us. Many victims were in one way or the other, and probably to negligible, casual degrees, also 'oppressors' of others and many oppressors were once victims. He without any sin should cry first for justice. Thus, there will be dual presentation of almost everyone on both sides of judgment.
That judgment based on good and bad, merits and demerits will never be. Humanity will be divided into two, yes, but it will be by the gracious line of the blood of Jesus into saved and unsaved. Both sides having people with good and bad records among men! How else shall humanity pass before a perfect God who has just grades in marking- A, a perfect 100% or F, a perfect 0%; nothing in-between! The blood of Christ is that legal panacea that cures all the flaws of human injustice. The vilest offender is pardoned because someone has borne the punishment. And the good man whose goodness will never be adequate is justified and made righteous.
Great white throne judgment- the last judgment, as foretold in Revelation 20, may not be the day for God to pass judgement on the numerous pogrom and genocide perpetrators of all age and place under heaven. We know the masterminds, generals and leaders but not the many faceless yet equally guilty foot soldiers who actually carried out these crimes. Many of whom might be INACCESSIBLE to damnation if they received the free gift of God's salvation as given in Christ that absolves a man of all guilt.
The flip side, is horrifically true; an individual plunged into eternity by great injustice, a victim of unwarranted brutality, such as witnessed at the Aluu 4 incident, deserving of compensation in the after life will instead suffer eternal punishment if they never accepted God's salvation! How heartbreaking yet true.
The news is good anyhow because salvation is given free through Christ.
So when we look into eternity, we look with hope not despair, we look to the perfect justice of the all-wise Creator. We do not look forward to flawed justice patterned after the system of other guilty men punishing guilty men because that day will never come!
Dave Nwajiuba
August 20, 2013
Port Harcourt.
Comments
Post a Comment